` Our Lady Seat of Wisdom

Council No. 11259

MARCH 2006

For The Good of the Order!

Joe Boyd and Joe Tippett: Men of Action and Men of Charity!

This edition of the Newsletter is dedicated to Joe Boyd and to Joe Tippett. Joe Boyd was one of our older members and he died recently after a series of illnesses over the last couple of years. When I started in the council, Joe was one of the men you could count on being at every meeting, always ready to lend a hand. There were many Saturdays he and I stood out in front of the WalMart, Safeway, or Giant handing out Tootsie Rolls or collecting donations for raffle tickets. Rain or shine he was out there. He was and is one of our Knights that realized that charity began with him. He will be missed.

Joe Tippett, also was a Knight of Charity. Joe died recently, as well. Joe did so many things for those around him it is hard to know where to begin. Like Joe Boyd, you would find Joe Tippett at all the meetings, but more importantly, he was always out there doing something for someone. Whether it was help remove trees, collect donations for raffle tickets, repair a single lady’s roof, fix a car, or help with things at church, Joe was there. He did it all behind the scenes and he did not like people telling him thank you. His whole idea was that he was just doing what anyone would do, so there was nothing to thank him for.

Both Joes were gentlemen to the core and full of love of neighbor. We have lost some really powerful examples of what it means to be a Christian and to live out a Christian life, but we have gained some powerful saints in Heaven to intercede for us. Please keep them in your prayers and please keep their families in your prayers.

WHY DO WE FAST?

Do you know why many of the saints fasted as they did? Many of them fasted on a weekly basis and not just at Lent. Many of them did not eat meat and when they fasted, their fasting consisted of bread and water only. Why did they do that?

On its face, one might think that it was done to show their love for God and at the same time to do penance for their sins. Certainly, the saints’ fasting included both these purposes. Our fasting during Lent also is for these purposes. But let us look a little more deeply. For our purposes here, fasting means taking less food than we ordinarily do.

The church’s tradition teaches that there are three basic benefits to fasting. These benefits are not much talked about these days. However, when a Christian in faith and love takes on him or herself to eat less for the love of God, the first thing that is uplifted is chastity. Yes, it is hard to believe, but one’s chastity increases when one abstains from food and drink. The Christian tradition affirms that fasting is the guardian of chastity. The reason for this is that eating to satiety prods one to embrace other pleasurable experiences, but one’s sexual drive, one’s very lust cools in abstinence from meat and drink. This is one reason why so many of our saints not only reduced the amount of food they ate and the wine they drank, but also even gave up meat completely. St. Francis of Assisi and the followers of his order during his life ate no meat and restricted their drinking of wine in ordinary circumstances. First as a sign of their love of God, second as a penance for past sins and for the sins of others, but third to reduce their normal sexual drive. In fact, the early Franciscans abstained from meat on all occasions save in illness when having one’s strength was important. When some one of the early brothers was ill, they would allow only a small amount of chicken or pork to be boiled in a broth, which was to be taken by a sick brother until he felt better. So fasting is one way that can be adopted to inflame the spirit and cool the libido.

A second benefit from fasting is that a person’s prayer is enhanced. People who have sated their senses with food and drink are more disposed to sleep than they are to prayer. Contemplative prayer, in particular, comes easier to a person whose mental energies are not dulled by indulgence in the sensual gratifications that food and drink offer. In a sense our physical hunger stokes our ability to grasp the spiritual in prayer.

Third, the saints fasted to make satisfaction for sin. In fasting to atone for sin, the saints not only did this for their own sins, but also in Christian charity for the sins of others. A friend of mine has a son who is 6 years old. My friend was with his 6 year old son recently when he asked him what he was going to give up for Lent. The 6 year old said he was going to give up playing his computer games. This is a very big deal for this little guy because playing his computer games is his first love right now. So his father said, “Wow, hey buddy, are you sure you want to make such a big sacrifice?” My friend was not prepared for the answer he got. The little boy said that “He loved God very much and he wanted to show God how big his love was, so he picked computer games because he loved playing them the most.” He then said that Jesus gave up the bestest thing He had when He died on the cross, and I want to show Him how much I love Him back.” This little boy was not messing around.

When we give up things during Lent, are we picking the things that we like the most as a sign of love for God as our little 6 year old saint is doing, or are we pinking things that fall in the category of things that are good for us to do for ourselves. Giving up candy, if candy is not a big deal to you, is not much of a sacrifice. Giving up meat, TV, deliberately eating less each day, drinking only water if you are a soda freak, these are true sacrifices, if they are things that you really like doing or having. The God who made us knows our hearts and minds. What did you pick to give up for Lent? Is it something you really will miss and a true sacrifice, or is it what you should have been doing anyway. God never ceases to reward us when we do even very little things to please Him. Start stowing up your heavenly rewards now as we all come closer to Easter. God Bless.

Grand Knight’s Report

My Brother Knights and Families,

My brother Knights,

Well, we are fast approaching St. Patrick’s Day and I want to remind you that we are having a big gala celebration of on March 18^th from 7:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. We will have dancing and a lot of fun entertainment headlined by Ms. Diane Wood, piano player par excelar. Irish music and humor will abound and much fun will be had by all, so please plan on attending. Our Knight’s Night out will be held at the Family Life Center. Hope to see you there and Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

God Bless you and your family,

Stephen & Margaret Bayliff

Calendar of Events

Council Meeting Schedule !!!!!!!!

Council meetings in March will be held on March 9^th, at St. John Vianney, and the second meeting will be held on March 23^rd, at Jesus the Divine Word. All meetings start promptly at 7:30 p.m. under ordinary circumstances, so plan on coming and enjoy the fellowship.

MARCH 18^TH IS OUR St. PATRICK’S DAY NIGHT OUT! 7 P.M. TO 11 P.M. AT THE FAMILY LIFE CENTER.

Monthly Rosary -- Important – Important – Important!

The Council Rosary schedule is as follows: Every 1^st Saturday of a month at St. John Vianney Parish at 5:00 p.m. before the 5:30 Mass. Every 2^nd Sunday of a month at St. Francis De Sales at 8:30 a.m. before the 9:00 a.m. Mass. Every 3^rd Sunday of a month at Jesus the Divine Word at 9:30 a.m. before the 10:00 a.m. Mass.

Chaplain’s Corner

Three Sundays of pre-Lent (Old Calendar)

If you look at some calendars of the Church Year, you will find that the three Sundays before Lent are not listed as Sundays after Epiphany, but rather as Septuagesima Sunday, Sexagesima Sunday and Quinquagesima Sunday. These are the Three Sundays of Pre-Lent, and on them the theme of the readings and prayers is at least moderately penitential. The reader may be disposed to think: "It looks as though someone decided that forty days of Lent were not enough, and that we needed to set the theme three weeks early, get our minds into a gloomy penitential state, and by doing so get ourselves up to speed by the time Lent actually started."

In fact, there is a different explanation. When Italy was invaded by the Lombards in A.D. 568, and the city of Rome was in danger of being captured and sacked, the Pope led a procession of clergy and congregation outside the walls of Rome bearing a large painting of Christ’s Crucifixion. The Pope led the procession on three successive Sundays to celebrate the Liturgy, as a sign that they sought their chief protection not from fortifications of Rome, but from the providence of God. The painting the Pope carried in the procession can be seen today hanging in a building on the grounds of St. John Lateran Church at the top of the marble steps St. Helen, Constantine’s mother, brought back from Jerusalem. Many of the faithful kneel on these steps advancing up them on their knees saying the rosary. Can you guess why? Well, these marble steps were unearthed by St. Helen and those accompanying her because after a lot of study, and Divine revelation, St. Helen believed them to be the steps from Pilot’s Palace. St. Helen brought the steps back at the same time she brought back the three crosses she unearthed on Golgatha (one of which has been miraculously verified as the true cross).

The painting on wood that the Pope carried outside the walls in the procession has been the instrument through which God has worked a number of miraculous cures. Interestingly enough after the Pope and faithful of Rome made their three successive Sunday processions, the Lombards who had come within 25 miles of Rome in conquest, turned aside from entering Rome and never took the prize they set out to attain: the sacking of Rome. The Church as a result began to refer to these three pre-Lenten, by the Latin reference numbers that these Sundays were removed from Easter, and the Prayers found in the Liturgy for those three Sundays reflect the perilous times in which they were written.

Please note: information about the Knights of Columbus and our council is now available at www.calvertkids.net – this web site provides a guide to family events and organizations in and around Calvert County. It is an exciting new non-profit website that features calendars of events happening in the area, an extensive directory of community resources, news articles and discussion forums. The website is operated by the Calvert Crusade for Children, and strives to create an electronic community in Calvert County.

Remember, if you have access to a computer and the Internet, I urge you to try to visit www.priestsforlife.org This website is an amazing fount of information available to priests and non-priests alike on Pro-life issues. Please visit the website, and please keep the unborn in your prayers.

News from the District Deputy: Jim Rank, SK

District Deputy's Report:

As most of you know, we lost two men from our brotherhood recently: Joe Boyd and Joe Tippett. I only want to make one brief statement to you all concerning them that I hope you will think about during the rest of Lent. Both men were very loving and giving men in their own ways. They were always ready to lend a hand to anyone who needed it, even when it required them to go a long way out of their way. They were very generous of their time and talent. I am sure they were also as equally generous with their money, but neither of them would have let anyone know that, so I can not speak here from direct knowledge. What I do know is that these men were Christian to the core and lived what they believed. The fact that they were Knights is a great blessing to our Order, and a very great blessing to each of us who had the great grace to know them. Please keep these saints in your thoughts and prayers this Lent, for it is our duty in Christian love to pray for the faithful departed. But also keep their families in your prayers. If we miss them think how much their families must be grieving at their not having them any longer with them.

How plugged in to your Knights of Columbus are you? If you want to know what is on tap for next six month the Calendar of Events from Jan – July 2006 is posted at www.kofc11259.us, so don’t say you don’t know what is going on. As your District Deputy, I have the responsibility for traveling around to all the Councils in District 9. I get to see the different folks in the various councils and all the variant ways these councils address our responsibilities as Knights. Yes, I said the sixteen-letter curse word – responsibilities. When you become a Knight, you are joining an organization that has a mission. It is an organization focused on fraternity, charity, and involvement in family, church, and community. There are many ways to give back to these highly important areas of social endeavor. I know each of you is committed to your mission as a Knight. You are in my prayers. Thank you for all you do!

Vivat Jesus!

Jim Rank DD # 9

If you haven’t visited the State Web site recently, take some time to peruse it at

http://www.kofc-md.org/ A reminder: The Knights of Columbus Supreme Council ‘s Web Site is http://www.kofc.org there you will find information regarding the Father McGivney Guild.

IMPORTANT, IMPORTANT, IMPORTANT!

Our council under the great efforts of John McFadden has started a web page that will soon contain issues of the newsletter and other information. Your ignorant editor, whose computer now in firmly in the last century will have to upgrade to be able to properly assist Jack in getting copies of the newsletter up on the web page. For those of you who have more up-to-date equipment and software, you can access the web page at www.kofc11259.us

Also, do you want to know a little more about the new Pope? GO TO www.vatican.va You will find a Vatican web site there that publishes Pope Benedict’s papal texts and public speeches practically every day.

Fourth Degree

As we close on mid-March, we are nearing the time for the 4^th Degree Exemplification. Each of us needs your prayers as we raise the new 4^th degree members to this very moving and patriotic honor. If you are considering becoming a 4^th Degree Knight, contact me, Ed Waskiewicz, at 410 535-0408.

Attention Ladies: Council 11259 is starting the process of trying to form a Knight’s Auxiliary, which is an organization that will ultimately function much like the Ladies of the Fourth Degree function now. The formation of a Knight’s Auxiliary might best be handled if a few of our fine ladies who already participate in the Ladies of the Fourth Degree would step forward and take the lead in starting up the Knight’s Auxiliary. If you are interested in helping us start an Auxiliary, please contact the Grand Knight at 410 257-2072.

Pro-Life

The following is an article by Fr. Frank Pavone, entitled God is Love. Fr. Frank Pavone is the National Director, Priests for Life.

On Christmas Day of 2005, Pope Benedict XVI issued his first encyclical letter, "God is Love." The letter clarifies the Christian meaning of the word "love," stressing that it is not a mere sentiment, but rather has a content and a specific shape, found in Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Son of God. Love, furthermore, constitutes a concrete program of action on the part of the whole Church, and is as essential to the Church as are the Word and Sacraments. What implications does a teaching like this encyclical have for the pro-life movement?

The encyclical implies that the pro-life movement is at the heart of the response that the Christian and the whole Church make to God himself. The Pope points out that "to say that we love God becomes a lie if we are closed to our neighbor" (n. 16). The pro-life movement is all about love for our neighbor in the womb. This love, furthermore, is self-sacrificing. The encyclical notes, "Love now becomes concern and care for the other. No longer is it self-seeking, a sinking in the intoxication of happiness; instead it seeks the good of the beloved: it becomes renunciation and it is ready, and even willing, for sacrifice" (n. 6).

In the best sense of the word, every pregnancy is a "crisis pregnancy," that is, a moment in which we must choose to grow, with all the pain which that entails. The mother with child must be "stretched" physically, psychologically, and spiritually. The encyclical says, "Purification and growth in maturity are called for; and these also pass through the path of renunciation" (n. 5). The child changes the mother forever, and in giving herself to her child she finds her more mature self.

Our pro-life commitment is also Eucharistic, because union with Christ means union with all our brothers and sisters, including the unborn. The Pope states: "Union with Christ is also union with all those to whom he gives himself. I cannot possess Christ just for myself; I can belong to him only in union with all those who have become, or who will become, his own" (n. 14). Notice that the Pope refers to union not only with "those who have become" the Lord's, but with all "who will become his own." This includes the unborn, who share the same humanity that we and

Christ share.

The Pope also points out that while their roles are distinct, the Church must work alongside the State in bringing about a just society. The Church "cannot and must not remain on the sidelines in the fight for justice. She has to play her part through rational argument and she has to reawaken the spiritual energy without which justice, which always demands sacrifice, cannot prevail and prosper" (n.28).

In short, "God is Love" reinforces "The Gospel of Life," because "the Gospel of God's love for man, the Gospel of the dignity of the person and the Gospel of life are a single and indivisible Gospel" (EV, n.2).

Remember to support our work at www.priestsforlife.org/donate

This column an be found online at

www.priestsforlife.org/columns/columns2006/06-02-13godislove.htm

Did you know the State Council has a new web site containing a clearinghouse of info on the Pro-life efforts of our Order? It is http://www.kofc-md.org/pages/Service/community.htm#ProLife

McNamara Chapter

Chapter Schedule for 2005-2006 Fraternal Year is as follows:

Mar 15, 2006 Mater Dei #9774

Apr 19, 2006 Immaculate Heart of Mary #9968

May 25, 2006 Prince Georges #2809

Jun 21, 2006 Father Horace B. McKenna #11024 - Officers trade jewels

INSURANCE

As all of you know, you can not plan for every event. More importantly, you do not know the hour or the time when Our Lord will call your name and you find yourself, hopefully, going through the Pearly Gates. Let me help you leave your families in the best possible situation after you go speak to St. Peter. If you haven’t looked at your financial situation recently, it may be time to do so, and I can help you in assessing where the holes are in your planning. I won’t pressure you to buy anything you do not want, but it always greatly upsets me when I hear of a family left struggling after the death of a loved one. A little financial planning now can save your family a lot of worry later, particularly if you are in a two income dependent situation. Give me a chance to help you. If you want to know more about what I can do for you, just call me at 301-262-4300 Cell: 301-335-7939 Fax: 301-262-6304.

God Bless! William Guinane

Trivia Question

Last Month’s trivia question was as follows: What Order did St. Thomas of Aquinas join and why is he such an important Catholic Saint?

St. Thomas was born about the year 1226 to a noble family. He was well educated and received a doctorate. One of his most famous works is the Summa Theologica. He wrote many hymns that are still used today, and he theological writings form some of the underpinnings for our faith, the doctrines of the church, and have colored the worship of God’s people for centuries. The writings we have of his fill nearly 20 tomes and we would have many more, if he at one point hadn’t thought all of it was vanity and burned some of his works. St. Thomas was made a doctor of the church because of his brilliant defense of the faith in a time when philosophy and scientific theory pointed away from simple belief and faith. His brilliance of though and lucidity of language are helpful even today.

This month’s trivia question is as follows: In the Roman martyrology, Saints Perpetua and Felicity are mentioned. So well known was their cults in ancient times, that Augustine is known to have preached about them at least three times. Who were these saints and what made them so well known?

DON’T

FORGET

MARCH 18^TH